Dining Room Mirror Makeover

This is a sponsored post brought to you by FrogTape for Bower Power’s Frog Tape Fridays. The opinions are completely my own based on my experience.

Goodbye goldie locks. It’s not me….it was you. The brownish orangey tone just wasn’t my cup of joe…errr…cup of Jer

Anything would be better in my book than the current finish…so it came next in our whirlwind dining room makeover. The first thing I did was wipe it all down (it’s like a dust magnet and that is a big no-no when it comes to painting). I then covered up the mirror part with FrogTape and brown paint paper so that it would be easy to clean up.

Time for painting…here’s what I used: Zinsser Bulls Eye 123 Primer & Rustoleum Paint n Primer in one in white. I love the Zinsser primer. It’s like Taylor Swift…it really does stick to everything. I feel like 32 sister

I chose to go with the satin paint over the primer because I wanted the mirror to be more subtle than the effect that a gloss would give. And yes, the Rustoleum has primer in it but I’ve found that a light dusting of the Zinsser primer helps things stick just a smidge better.

A few coats later, I have one very white mirror. So much better than the orange.

I went ahead and hung it up after removing the paper and tape…it immediately was more my style.

Doesn’t it look so much better against the dark gray? I love the contrast.

Oh and some folks were asking for a wide open shot of the dining room. It’s in transition right now so please don’t think this is finished by any means. I asked Jer to pull this old table out of storage (and we had to pick up the glass top from the friend he rented from 7 years ago!!). I love the table but it’s obviously too small for this space for long term. But it’s a nice stand-in till my new beauty arrives…aka…when we find the time to drive up to Chattanooga, rent a uhaul and bring it home

I think I might just go ahead and paint the base just for kicks. And I need sconces. I took out the old ones…they just weren’t screaming dining room to me.

oh and ignore the too-short curtains. I had three…the fourth curtain was left at the old house in the bathroom…and obviously they are high-watering it. I just wanted to see how the dark brown looked. The linen looks really good to me….it’s now just a waiting game till I can either go to Ikea to buy the longer ones or make my own.

Another random note….I like the round pendant light in here with the round table but I’m unsure how it will look with the large rectangular table-to-be. Anyone out there with a rectangular table and a round pendant? If we don’t love it, I guess I could switch it out with the kitchen table light. We’ll have to wait and see what looks best I guess.

So there you have it folks…new life in an old mirror. I think Jer’s great aunt would be surprised to see how modern her mirror looks now…it definitely doesn’t look like it got a bad self-tan anymore, right?!

Comments

I love the white frame against your walls! We painted our living room a similar color last winter and I’ve been biding my time until the weather warms up so I can spray paint all my wall frames white : ) It’s going to look awesome! Thanks for sharing! I’ll have to try that primer!

I can’t tell how big the pendant is from the pictures, and I don’t know how big the table is (I’m thinking huge), but to create a “rectangular” shape with curvy lines, you could add 2 more smaller (but similar) pendants on either side of the larger one. That way, it would elongate the structure but maintain the round edges.

As for the round drum shade and possible rectangle table….I’m buying one from West Elm this weekend to go over our dining room table. I love the contrast the two different shapes offer and drum shades in my opinion are so classic. I just love them. I say keep it I was going to ask where you got your shade from because it’s much deeper err bigger than the WE one.

I can understand how you would want something bigger in here since you like to have family over, but I really like the look that this table gives. It would help if the chairs were not brown, and I don’t much care for the brown curtains, but I think the aqua table base looks super nice with all of the gray and white and mocha.

Have you considered adding a fabric strip to the bottom of your curtain panels, maybe in a wide stripe? Good job on the mirror. I have a large round pendant above my dining table which is long and oval-ish.

I guess I differ from the majority on the round drum over the rectangle table. I had round over rectangle and it just bugged me every single day! I finally switched it out with a fabric rectangle shaded fixture from west elm and I love it so much more now.

Maybe the look wasn’t working for me because the whole space the table is in is long and narrowish, so the rectangle just made it feel more united to me. I bet the circle would look good in a room like yours that has a more open feel.

That mirror is B – EAU- TI-FUL!! It just goes to show anything with good shape/structure can be made over to suit. Some people love the antique, some love the modern but whatever is your style it’s the mirror itself that holds up either way. Jer’s Great Aunt should be proud tan or no-tan. I love the white/grey. I also love the colour of the pedestal on that table, what colour would you repaint it? Can’t wait to see your new big table.

The mirror was a good call-I’d even hit it with a lil rub-n-buff in matte silver to highlight all those nooks and crannies.

You can add to those drapes at the top or bottom or even in the top third-it’s just straight sewing; any color that you choose- fuchsia, gold, pale blue, bright green-would look amazing, and then you could tie it in to the runner/napkins/whatever.

Hi Katie,
I’ve been following your blog for a while and I’m always excited to see what you’ve been up to! I love the contrast between the white and grey – it looks so fresh and clean. I’ve been thinking about painting the walls in our house grey, but not sure it would work as we have very low ceilings and much smaller proportions that your gorgeous house – it is a 1846 Victorian cottage in the English countryside! I can’t wait to see how the dining room comes together especially with the curtains – why don’t you go for a fabric with white background and a grey pattern to bring the whole look together?

My husband would think those curtains are the perfect length. We bought curtains for my daughters room and he decided to hem them on his own. They are about the same length as above. We have been in a months long ‘discussion’ about the living room curtains about this very topic. He wants to trim them to an odd length. I need to find a good article so I can prove my point to him about the appropriate length for curtains.

I have converted to frog tape because of you. You seemed so happy with it so I gave it a try. I ran out one day and tried to use the “blue stuff” and it just wasn’t the same. I think of you every time I pull out my roll.

I am LOVING the direction you are headed. The mirror is perfect, I am such a sucker for high contrast. Can’t wait to see the new table. I thought the three pendant solution was really interesting, you could make that look very romantic and eclectic, something to think about. Can’t wait to see the chair solution, too. Great job!

I didn’t mind the mirror before, but in white it looks kind of sad. It looks like an ornate mirror that was spraypainted white, not an ornate white mirror. It was worth a shot but I think it fell flat.

Hi Katie! The dining room looks amazing with the new wall color! I had a quick question for you about the rug in your dining room. We are trying to find something similar for our large family room and was wondering where you got yours. Also quick side note that I swoon every time you post something about your kitchen! You guys did an absolutely incredible job!:)

The mirror is def. better in white! Love it against the gray! Also, just as a sidenote: the 5 little boxes that pop up under a post “things you may like”…the 5th one has had some less than wholesome pics of barely clothed ladies on it. Just thought you might want to know as I doubt that’s the image you’re going for on your blog.

I love the idea of painting this white! I have been thinking about doing this to a similar mirror I have. I’m not sure it goes very well with the furniture. I think it perfectly stands out against the paint, but next to the wooden drawers below? Maybe it’s my CD but I feel like the woods should match to some extent.